'Another Thing': Singing The Housework Blues

Each week, All Things Considered and Lenore Skenazy, author of the book and blog Free Range Kids, bring you "Another Thing," an on-air puzzle to test your cleverness skills. We take a trend in the news and challenge you to help us satirize it with a song title, a movie name or something else wacky.

This week's challenge: A study out of Norway found that couples who split the chores equally are 50 percent more likely to divorce.

Come up with the name of a country song about a chore-splitting couple.

Submit your entry using the form below or by sending your answer with your name, address and phone number to anotherthing@npr.org.

Entries are due by noon EDT on Oct. 10. All entries become the property of NPR, which reserves the right to edit them. Entries submitted as comments on this Web page cannot be considered. In the case of several similar entries, the first one received gets credit.

The winner will be announced on All Things Considered on Oct. 15. The first-prize winner will receive an NPR mug.

Last week's challenge:What will be the most terrible toy of the 21st century? Come up with its name and — if you'd like — its slogan.

"The NPR Pledge Drive Action Play Set! Comes with a phone bank of poseable volunteers, a deluxe Terry Gross action figure and a Nina Totenbag for pledges of $100 or more. Call now, for fun!," Sam Kimpton, Durham, N.C.

Honorable Mentions (Because All Things Considered loved these, too):

"Lumberjack in the Box," Mari Jacquet, Chico, Calif.

"Hungry, Hungry Hipsters," James Bartelle, Metairie, La.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Time now for our weekly humor contest, Another Thing Considered. And joining me from New York is Lenore Skenazy, our contest queen. Or to be more contemporary and upscale, I'll call her the curator of Another Thing. Hello, Lenore.

LENORE SKENAZY, BYLINE: I prefer queen. Thank you very much.

SIEGEL: It's a high rank. Tell us about the challenge that we put our listeners to last week.

SKENAZY: Well, last week inspired by the fact that visitors to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis had voted for G.I. Joe as the very top toy of the 20th century, I asked listeners to come up with the opposite, the very worst toy they could imagine in this century.

SIEGEL: And what did you hear?

SKENAZY: Well, there were a lot of sort of dangerous toys. One was the Easy Bake Tanning Booth, Lumberjack in the Box, Rubik's Porcupine.

SIEGEL: Rubik's Porcupine?

SKENAZY: Rubik's Porcupine. Right? You know, you have to manipulate that thing to get all the colors on one side. But if it's a porcupine - eh, forget it. I'll get you another one. All right. Skip back, let's take a Slip and Sue.

SIEGEL: Slip and Sue?

SKENAZY: Slip and Sue. Just like Slip and Slide, but it comes with the phone number of a...

SIEGEL: A lawyer.

SKENAZY: Exactly. Exactly. And then there were some time saving toys, that my favorite among them was the Pre-Tangled Slinky.

SIEGEL: I mean, why watch it break over time? Just take it busted.

SKENAZY: Right, right, right. And then there was some political ones like the Obama Care Bear.

SIEGEL: Yeah.

SKENAZY: And instead of Laser Tag, Taser Tag.

SIEGEL: Oh, that's funny.

SKENAZY: And then there were the actual runners-up.

SIEGEL: OK. The runners-up for last week in Another Thing Considered.

SKENAZY: One was, Adam Morris(ph) of Hunlock Creek, Pennsylvania. He sent in Serious Putty.

SIEGEL: Does it do anything?

SKENAZY: Yeah, it allows you to copy the newsprint and then you read it. For people who remember newspapers. Lee Ann Donner(ph) of Essex, Vermont, sent in Tickle Me Cuomo.

SIEGEL: OK.

SKENAZY: Could damn his chances. Beth Chowlette(ph) of East Rochester, New York sent in Barbie's Under-Water Dream House.

SKENAZY: The winner is Carrie Allan(ph) of Tacoma Park who sent in the G.I. Joe Biden.

SIEGEL: What does the G.I. Joe Biden do?

SKENAZY: He talks, but you wish he wouldn't.

SIEGEL: All right. Congratulations to Carrie Allan. Cleverness wins her a genuine ceramic mug. Lenore, tell us about this week's contest.

SKENAZY: Well, there is just a surprising study out of Norway that found that couples who split their chores equally are actually 50 percent more likely to divorce. Had you heard that?

SIEGEL: No. I was totally unaware of that.

SKENAZY: OK.

SIEGEL: It's the one Norwegian study I was unaware of.

SKENAZY: Yeah, really. So given that sad state of affairs, I would like listeners to come up with the name of a country song about a chore-splitting couple. You know how country songs are always sad and they're always about breakups? So a song about a 50-50 chore-splitting couple.

SIEGEL: So, send your sad country song about egalitarian marriage to us at anotherthing@npr.org. Answers are due by noon Eastern Time on Wednesday. Lenore Skenazy, thanks.